Freelancers for charities

CEO Training Course - Building Income Resilience

Posted by Leah on 04/07/2024










Book your space now!

Course overview


This course will help you to build income resilience in testing economic times.

You will explore how best to protect and nurture existing income and how to identify plausible new income options, all in the context of today’s environment.  You will then consider how to navigate the practical and ethical issues that may arise and how to lead the structural and cultural change you may need to introduce.

You will do all this in the company of your fellow participants who will all be CEOs of small charities. This will give you an opportunity to share your own experiences and learn from the experiences of others.

"I wasn't expecting as much quality strategic discussion, and the course facilitated that part well".
Joel Lewis, CEO, Foyer Federation

Who is it for?

This course is for leaders (i.e. CEOs or equivalent) of small and medium sized voluntary sector organisations including charities and community interest companies.

Course aims

By the end of the course, you will; 

  • Understand the different income streams available and the options open to your organisation
  • Be more confident in making strategic income generation choices that support your organisation and its values
  • Know how to explore a full cost recovery model in your organisation
  • Be confident about the value of your work and how to present this to different supporters
  • Know how to build internal support for a sustainable approach to income generation
  • Have explored approaches to leading change and overcoming barriers


Course structure

The course consists of five one-and-a-half-hour sessions, which will take place on Fridays at 9.30 am starting from 13 September. You will receive materials for any sessions you are unable to attend. 

There will be a maximum of twelve participants, which will give attendees a chance to share and learn from each other in a manageable way. 

In addition there will be an optional sixth session for participants to review and discuss the course and how they intend to use – or indeed have already begun to use – the learnings from it.


"I was hoping to get new ideas and share some challenges with others, which was definitely achieved."
Jo Scrimgeour, CEO, Home-Start Kernow

Cost

The course costs £200 per person

Session Date

Session Title

What we will cover

13 September 2024

Building a resilient income base: an introduction

We will define sustainable income and what this means for your organisation, as well as think about income generation options that are available and when they are appropriate to pursue.

20 September 2024

Income generation in today’s world

This session will allow us to explore what’s going on in the voluntary sector in relation to income generation and look at some of the emerging trends, challenges and opportunities you face as leaders of small and medium-sized organisations – and how you can use this knowledge in your own approach to fundraising.

27 September 2024

Mission vs Money: making strategic choices

Making strategic choices isn’t always easy. In this session, we will look at some of the tensions, including ethical factors, we face as leaders and explore tools and concepts to help aid decision-making. -

4 October 2024

What do you need? (And how to get it)

We will look at how you can talk about your work in a way that means your income meets organisational and beneficiary needs and consider how a full cost recovery approach can support you with setting prices and generating the funding you require.

11 October 2024

Managing cultural change to support income generation

In this final structured session, we will look at what changes in income generation might mean for the people in your organisation, and how to manage change and risk in a practical way

18 October 2024

Course reflections and next steps

An optional facilitated session for you to reflect on the course with your peers and what is next for you and your organisation.

 

Book your space now!


About Leah 

Leah has over two decades of experience as a senior manager and fundraiser in the voluntary sector, where she has worked in and with organisations, helping them become more effective through a combination of support services covering governance, strategy, income generation and implementation.

Her consulting work specialises in fundraising and strategic planning and includes support to a range of local and national charities and social enterprises – both generating income directly and advising senior staff on related matters.

For more information and to enquire about her availability, visit her profile